You are precious to me. You are honored and I love you. Isaiah 43:4b

 

It’s been said that you don’t know what you had, until you’ve lost it. But as deep as your loss may be, there’s a joy that’s deeper.

 

No one escapes the sorrow and heartache of loss. Yet, one person can grieve and keep living while others are bound by scars that never seem to fade.

 

Ruth found herself widowed with two young children at age 32. She was quickly overwhelmed with the pressure of raising her children and making all the decisions. But Ruth was a follower of Jesus and she turned to Him with her tears, choosing to continue to worship Him in her loneliness. She said, “I found immense comfort as I expressed to the Lord my grief at losing my loved one, and then let Him speak words of love to my heart.”[1]

 

“You are precious to me. You are honored and I love you,” the words of Scripture went deep into Ruth’s broken heart (Isaiah 43:4b). For years, she continued to choose to give God praise. One day God brought a new marriage and a powerful realization. Ruth wrote, “It seemed that God used sorrow and loneliness and perplexities to stretch out spaces in my heart for deeper joy than I’d known before—especially the joy of loving and praising Him.[2]

 

As deep as your pain has been, God has the power and desire to fill that prepared space with joy like you’ve never known. Instead of turning away, when we turn to Him with the will to praise Him in the pain, He will walk with you, a day at a time or an hour at a time. Then, as if by surprise, His incomparable joy rushes in.

 

[1] Myers, Warren. “An Introduction to Praise.” 31 Days of Praise, edited by Ruth Meyers, Multnomah Publishers Inc., 1994, p. 18.

 

[2] Ibid.